Map
Case

Toyota: the Toyota Production System

Toyota Motor Corporation says the Toyota Production System rests on two pillars: jidoka (stopping at once when an abnormality is detected) and Just-in-Time (making only what is needed, when and in the amount needed) (Toyota Motor Corporation). After a four-year study of more than 40 plants, Spear and Bowen set out four rules: highly specified work, direct customer–supplier connections, simple product pathways and improvement by the scientific method under a teacher (Harvard Business Review, 1999).

Industry
Automotive (Japan)
Frameworks applied
Toyota Production System: four pillars
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Frameworks applied

This case is read through the frameworks below.

  • Toyota Production System: four pillarsWhen a plant has high stock, recurring defects and uneven output, which pillars should an operations manager build on to run production steadily with little waste?

Sources

References

Listed A–Z by author surname, Harvard style. A source with a DOI links to https://doi.org/…; one without links to its page or says plainly that it has no DOI.

  1. Spear, S. and Bowen, H.K. (1999) ‘Decoding the DNA of the Toyota Production System’, Harvard Business Review, 77(5), pp. 96–106.No DOIhbr.orgSource page
  2. Toyota Motor Corporation (n.d.) Toyota Production System. Toyota Motor Corporation Official Global Website.No DOIglobal.toyotaSource page